Wren's Coat Uncovered

Local Man Sought Heraldic Emblem

August 30, 2001|By BRIAN WHITSON Daily Press

WILLIAMSBURG — While questions remain about the Sir Christopher Wren Building at the College of William and Mary, the school's unofficial historian says he's cleared up one mystery about the famous architect believed to be linked to the more- than-300-year-old structure.

It's still not known for sure if the famed 17th-century architect actually designed the building, but local resident Wilford Kale has answered another question: Did Wren have a coat of arms? After a little research, Kale says yes.

His interest was sparked last year when he saw a question in the "Answer Desk" column of the Daily Press.

Someone wanted to know if Wren was ever issued a coat of arms, which originated in the 12th century as symbols of the name, status and achievements of the bearer.

The paper searched its resources in the Daily Press library and even recruited the help of a researcher at William and Mary, but no references to a Wren coat of arms were discovered.

But since Wren, most known for his design of St. Paul's Cathedral after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and also an accomplished mathematician and scientist, was knighted in 1673 as "Sir Christopher," Kale said he was confident the man was granted a coat of arms.

"I was going to bet my arms and legs he had a coat of arms," Kale said.

So Kale enlisted the help of officers at the College of Arms, the official repository in London of the coats of arms and pedigrees of English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Commonwealth families. Kale had been there in 1990 while doing research and made friends.

He dropped a few names and soon received an answer from Clive Edwin Alexander Cheesman, an officer at the College of Arms. Cheesman sent Kale a reference to Wren's coat of arms, as well as art work of the design. Cheesman told Kale that Anthony Richard Wagner wrote about the coat of arms in the book "Historic Heraldry of Britain."

Thad Tate, a retired professor of history at William and Mary, said learning about the Wren coat of arms is "an important find" because it tells people more about Wren himself.

But Tate added it was not relevant to the big question: Did Wren design the building?

Kale said he has a theory on that debate as well, but he's not ready to go public with it.

He hopes to find the documentation that officially links Wren to the design of the building.